Dispersion of Liquids in Liquids with Chemical Reaction

Liquid—liquid reaction systems form an important class of chemical reactions which have significant importance in the chemical, petroleum, mining, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Examples of such systems are hydrometallurgical solvent extraction, phase transfer catalysis, nitration—halogenation of hydrocarbons, emulsion polymerization, hydrodesulfurization of crude stocks, hydrocarbon fermentations and glycerolysis of fats. In order to develop a rational design of chemical reactors for liquid—liquid systems, one must describe the microscopic problem of interphase mass transfer with reaction and couple this to the reactor design equations. The microscopic problem is concerned with the determination of the local rate of transfer of reactants and/or products between the two phases as governed by the local bulk-phase conditions of concentration and temperature. This problem requires the solution of the continuity equation for each species coupled with the local conservation of energy. The macroscopic problem is concerned with the analysis of the evolution of both liquid phases through the volume of the reactor, and makes use of the modelling of the local conditions obtained from a solution to the microscopic problem. This problem requires use of the macroscopic material and energy balances which should include an account of the interphase surface area, dispersed phase mixing, and dispersed phase holdup.